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Demolitions Continue -- Bulldozing The Future
"This is just one more in a long list of
crimes perpetrated by the Israeli
occupation against the Palestinians of
Jerusalem, proving yet again the Israeli
ethnic cleansing policy against the
Palestinian people, especially those in
Jerusalem."
MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington, DC - 6/15/00:
While Hafez el-Assad was being buried in Damascus, and while the next
round of American-mandated "peace process" talks was beginning near Washington,
the Israelis
were busy Tuesday morning showing everyone but one more time who is
boss and how they plan to enforce the "separation" that essentially awards
the Israelis 4/5ths of Mandate Palestine, leaving the Palestinians a few
Israeli-surrounded areas centered around their remaining "population centers".
The details in this little sad story are from one of the Palestinian
non-governmental human rights organizations that monitors these things.
As for Arafat, he obviously cares little for he hasn't even been able to
stop this ongoing display of Israeli domination and continues to play ball
with the Israelis even while Jewish settlement expansion and demolition
of Palestinian homes continue:
DEMOLISHING A JERUSALEM HOME,
DISPLACING ITS INHABITANTS
On Tuesday June 13 2000, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished
the
260 m² Jabal Al Mukabber home of 34 year-old Hamza Ahmad Mohammad
Al
Maghribi from Jerusalem. It was demolished by order of the Israeli
Ministry
of Interior, under the justification that no construction license had
been
obtained from the West Jerusalem municipality. During the demolition
the
furniture inside the house was also destroyed... A large number
of Israeli
police, supported by the ‘border police’ stormed the Abidat Quarter
at Jabal
Al Mukabber at 8am yesterday and sealed off all the roads leading to
it.
The Maghribi family were given half an hour to evacuate their house.
At 8:30am Israeli bulldozers, protected by the police, knocked the house
down. The Maghribi family were not permitted to save their furniture
or even
their personal belongings. Furthermore, the Israeli police attacked
and
arrested several Palestinians during the demolition, including Riyad
Al
Shwaiki, Muhanad Al Maghribi and a member of the ‘Peace Now’ organization,
who were held in police custody for several hours.
Hamza Ahmad Mohammad Al Maghribi said that his home had been built in
1992.
He received a demolition notice a month ago "because the house was
not
licensed", and a license had been given to him to renovate the old
building.
He also said that he had applied for a license several times. The demolition
order had in fact been suspended pending a court hearing due to be
held on
July 12 2000, but the Interior Ministry bulldozers arrived before the
case
was heard. Al Maghribi’s demolished home sheltered ten members
of his
family, including his wife, 62 year-old mother, and seven children
aged
between 4 and 15.
Al Maghribi emphasised...that he had spent around one million Shekels
(approximately US $250,000) on constructing and furnishing his home.
He
said that the occupation authorities had also sent a notice to his
brother
Nasser Al Maghribi informing him that his home would be demolished
one
week after Hamza’s.
This is just one more in a long list of crimes perpetrated by the Israeli
occupation against the Palestinians of Jerusalem, proving yet again
the
Israeli ethnic cleansing policy against the Palestinian people, especially
those in Jerusalem.
In the meantime, the case of the Aqel family of Mount Scopus was taken
to
court. On May 11 2000 the family had received a demolition order from
the
West Jerusalem municipality, after pressure from the Hebrew University
which
claims to own the land. The court postponed its decision on the demolition
until 30 September 2000.
During the hearing, about 45 people, mainly Hebrew University students,
protested in front of the court against the Israeli home demolition
policy
and the action of the Hebrew University. The students collected
more than
500 letters against the demolition, which they are going to present
to the
University president, Professor Megidor, in the coming week.
Until now the
president has refused to receive the students.
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